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EARTHQUEST
[[image - picture of the Earth imbedded in the "Q" above]]

OFFICE FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY EARTH STUDIES
Winter 1988, Vol. 2, No. 1

[[image - drawing of satellite observing the Earth]] 

Remote Sensing - The International Community Comes of Age
by D. James Baker

In the introduction to the National Research Council's 1983 report Toward an International Geosphere-Biosphere Program: A Study of Global Change, Herbert Friedman emphasizes that "the power of new technologies for remote sensing of atmospheric, geological, biological, and oceanographic conditions promises to revolutionize our grasp of global conditions and our understanding of global change."

During the five years since then, we have seen impacts of satellite measurements on significant topics ranging from the ozone hole to global marine ecosystems. In addition to the many other recent reports by the scientific community, the 1987 report of NASA's Space Applications Advisory Committee, entitled Linking Remote-Sensing Technology and Global Needs: A Strategic Vision, updates that promise and shows how technological developments now allo planning for acquisition of data of national importance on renewable land and forest resources, nonrenewable strategic resources, and atmospheric and oceanic forecasting. All of these are key elements of global change.

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